Tag Archives: Adjusting to University

Adventure Time!

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A key part of succeeding in university is taking the time to de-stress! The best part about living in Vancouver and being on-campus at UBC are all of the opportunities available for you to do this in so many different ways.  There really are activities on and off campus that can cater to many different interests. As for me, I consider myself an explorer! I love to be handed a map and just learn my way around so I did just that this past weekend and had a great time! Myself and two of my friends ventured to the Robson Street area down town and just went exploring – learning street names, finding shops and restaurants we’ve never heard of, and just fell in love with the great diversity of our surroundings.

After venturing about, my friends and I visited a local piercing shop called NEXT! on Granville Street. I highly recommend this place if you’re looking to get anything pierced – All of the staff are super friendly, approachable, and detailed when answering any questions you may have. They were very reassuring and sure to inform my friends and I all about the safety measures and precautions they take when they do piercings and they gave thorough instructions on aftercare. It was a little painful, but I got my tragus and my cartilage pierced that day and I’m very satisfied with the results. I’ve been to this same piercing shop before to get my nose pierced as well and the service has consistently been great and safe. After getting our piercings and doing some more exploring, my friends and I decided to have brunch at a Café Crepe restaurant. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! Anything with nutella is pretty delicious and I’d recommend a lot of the menu items since my friends and I chose different items and shared all of our different selections. After lunch we did manage to get lost, only briefly, but found our way to the Cineplex Odeon which is a theater in a Mall. After some shopping and enjoying some pretty good sushi from the food court we saw Wreck It Ralph. Who says university students can’t see kid’s movies?! Laugh all you want, it was a really great movie with lots of jokes even us “older kids” can enjoy.

After a long day out and about, my friends and I decided we’d had enough exploring for the day. But, every adventure wouldn’t be an adventure without a mishap! In case you haven’t ventured down town yet or anywhere where there’s a busy road, you should know that there are a lot of pedestrians and road safety is CRITICAL. It sounds juvenile, but make sure you’re are very careful when crossing the street. It pays to be extra cautious because even though my friends and I were obeying the traffic light which was indicating it was safe for us to cross the street; my friend was hit by a car attempting to turn right at a red light. Thankfully, there was no serious damage and the driver was extremely apologetic, but it’s obvious it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.

Thankfully most of us made it home after our adventure bruise free. So, lessons for the day:

  1. Take time to do what makes you happy and clear your mind! De-stressing is critical in such a hectic time like university. You’ve worked your butt off to get here and to stay here, so reward yourself once in a while!
  2. Traffic safety is critical! Look both ways before you cross the street and obey traffic signs and lights – only walk across when it’s safe!

So, I hope you have a great week and maybe give yourself something to look forward to by planning something you know you’ll enjoy for the weekend. Best of luck in your studies! Feel free to share some of your awesome adventure/exploring places.

Practice Makes Perfect

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“Good luck kiddo” my Dad said as he embraced me with a hug. Within the same moment he pulled away from me, smiled, and walked away with a wave. I stood in the middle of the Totem Park commons block where my Dad had left me, just pondering what to do next. At that exact moment reality set in and I realized, wow, I’m in university now.

You’d be amazed how the feeling hits you – it’s quite the whirlwind of excitement and nervous feelings all combined with the millions of questions buzzing around in your head. While this new environment initially seemed daunting, I saw it as a new beginning and decided to make it an adventure. Some may think the only place you learn anything on a university campus is in a classroom, but that assumption is so wrong. Two weeks prior to the beginning of classes I was lucky enough to participate in the Jump Start program where I learned quite a few things on my own as well as through the program. Some lessons I learned allowed me to feel more confident on campus when it came to knowing my surroundings and where to go if I ever needed help, while others I  encountered spontaneously and resulted in a laugh. A short list of lessons I’ve learned very quickly over the short time of me being on campus includes:

  1. Your walking shoes should be comfy shoes – You walk EVERYWHERE.
  2. A bike is a great investment (Refer to number 1 if you need a reason why).
  3. Run your clothes through the dryer twice. Trust me; a full load won’t be dry after just one cycle.
  4. The walk down and up the stairs to and from Wreck Beach easily constitutes as a cardio workout – Be prepared to sweat! (Once again, refer to lesson #1!)
  5. You may feel like you’re missing out on something because it feels like everyone is going and you aren’t, but don’t worry! There’s something going on virtually every night so just because you can’t go out one night doesn’t mean there won’t be other opportunities.

 

While there are a multitude of other things I’ve learned at UBC just after being here for two weeks, I’m looking forward to learning more both in and out of the classroom as my adventure continues. The best part about learning is being confident in what you’re learning about. Initially I was unsure and a little shaky on my first day at UBC, but I realized that with time the nervousness passed and my confidence began to build as I found my way around campus and developed my own tips and tricks to surviving on my own as a university student.  Essentially, adapting to university life is like anything else – practice makes perfect. So far, I’m excited for more practice so that in four years I’ll be prepared for the final show – graduation.